Joey Logano collected his third straight win to sweep all three races of the “Contender Round” of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in a wild controversial finish in Sunday’s CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Logano was declared the winner following an attempt at a green-white-checkered finish that ended in a crash just after NASCAR put out the green flag, bringing out a caution that ended the race with Logano ending up being scored just ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
NASCAR had waved off an earlier green-white-checkered attempt after Jimmie Johnson spun before the field made it to the start/finish line.
Jeff Gordon was scored in third place, followed by Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards.
Logano, who had already locked up a spot in the “Eliminator Round” of the Chase, earned his sixth win of the season and 14th of his career, while Earnhardt, Jr. joined Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth as the four drivers who will not advance to the next round.
“Three in a row in unbelievable. I don’t even know what to say. I am speechless,” said Logano. “I saw the (caution) lights come on when I was still in the lead and I thought we had it. It is all about how the timing loops are and the camera to make sure that is what happened. It is such a crazy race. To pull it into victory lane here at Talladega is so cool.
“It is amazing. Dreams come true I guess. We have to keep this dream rolling. We have a long way to go. We are back to zero going into Martinsville so we need to make something happen in the next three races.”
With the victory, Logano becomes the first drive to sweep all three races of a round in the Chase, but for the second week in a row is embroiled in a controversial finish.
“When you come to Chase time everyone is bringing their A-game, bringing everything they’ve got, the best they can – not only with their race cars, but every driver is trying to find that extra little bit,” said Logano. “To see what this 22 team has done coming into the Chase and being able to have some very good finishes in the first round, click off three wins here in the Contender Round, it sets a statement and that’s what we tried to do.”
The confusing and controversial ending marred what was otherwise an exciting race that saw only two caution flags over the first 133 laps and no major multi-car incidents.
Sunday’s race was do or die for Earnhardt, Jr., who came into the weekend second to last ahead of Kenseth among the 12 drivers vying to be one of the eight to advance to the next round.
Needing nothing less than a win to advance, Earnhardt, Jr. did exactly what he’s been famous for – getting out in front at Talladega and staying there.
After getting the lead on lap three, Earnhardt, Jr. spent 42 of the opening 79 laps in the lead before a pit-road penalty on lap 119 put him back deep in the field.
Up front, Logano kept his No. 22 Ford locked in the top 10 while Earnhardt, Jr. fought his way back to the front. By lap 150, Earnhardt had worked his way all the way back from 26th to retake the lead.
Lap 170 brought the leaders to pit road for green-flag stops, but Earnhardt locked up his tires getting slowed down to pit road speed, forcing his crew to change from fuel-only to a two-tire stop, putting Earnhardt, Jr. back in 14th.
Greg Biffle stayed out to take over the lead with Logano and Keselowski running second and third. Earnhardt, Jr. would fight his way back again and moved into third behind Logano.
The second caution flag of the day for Jamie McMurray’s engine expiring with five laps to go changed the entire outcome of the race, setting up a single three-lap shootout to the finish.
Logano regained the lead after Biffle gave up the top spot to pit, and led the field to the green flag for the three-lap dash to the finish, but Jimmie Johnson got collected as the field bunched up prior to the green flag, forcing NASCAR to throw the yellow.
Since the field had yet to cross the starting line to take the green flag, NASCAR ruled the previous start did not count as an attempt at a green-white-checkered, and lined the field up again.
On the next attempt, the leader got a clean start but back in 10th place, Kevin Harvick failed to come up to speed after an engine problem, and as the field stacked up Harvick made contact with Trevor Bayne, touching off a crash that collected Kenseth, Hamlin, Danica Patrick and Austin Dillon.
The crash brought out the yellow flag and effectively ended the race, with Logano scored just ahead of Earnhardt, Jr. when the caution came out.
Earnhardt, Jr. finished second, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the Chase.
“Per the rules we run second. I can live with that.” said Earnhardt, Jr. “Another 100 yards I would have been in the lead, but NASCAR makes the calls. They are the governing body and I have 100 percent faith in the choices that they make. I’m not going to be too upset about it. I did everything I could. I’m proud of myself. I’m proud of my team.”
Logano will enter the next round of the Chase with the no. 1 seed, along with Carl Edwards, Gordon, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, and Martin Truex, Jr.
Harvick survived to post a 15th-place finish and barely stayed alive in the Chase, just three points ahead of Kyle Busch in eighth.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
CampingWorld.com 500 – October 25, 2015
1. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 196, $283973.
2. (5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 196, $197100.
3. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 196, $193886.
4. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 196, $170716.
5. (15) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 196, $128100.
6. (13) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 196, $123665.
7. (43) Martin Truex, Jr., Chevrolet, 196, $127860.
8. (29) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 196, $132498.
9. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 196, $109515.
10. (14) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 196, $108790.
11. (16) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 196, $134431.
12. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 196, $124230.
13. (33) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 196, $90830.
14. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 196, $131491.
15. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 196, $138305.
16. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 196, $129886.
17. (21) Sam Hornish, Jr., Ford, 196, $113945.
18. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 196, $132036.
19. (2) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 196, $102025.
20. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 196, $118233.
21. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 196, $127350.
22. (34) Cole Whitt, Ford, 196, $104183.
23. (35) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 196, $98408.
24. (23) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 196, $113283.
25. (12) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 196, $112189.
26. (4) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 196, $121911.
27. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 196, $92400.
28. (27) Michael McDowell, Ford, 195, $81150.
29. (40) Josh Wise, Ford, 195, $84000.
30. (22) David Ragan, Toyota, 195, $111539.
31. (28) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 195, $106328.
32. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 194, $100108.
33. (37) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 194, $89847.
34. (41) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 194, $80100.
35. (42) Travis Kvapil(i), Chevrolet, 193, $79925.
36. (31) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 193, $97770.
37. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 192, $97634.
38. (30) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, 192, $74877.
39. (24) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, Engine, 182, $100796.
40. (36) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 177, $68305.
41. (32) Timmy Hill(i), Ford, Electrical, 168, $62805.
42. (39) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Engine, 130, $66805.
43. (9) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, Engine, 84, $55305.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 167.311 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 06 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Caution Flags: 3 for 18 laps.
Lead Changes: 30 among 18 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J. Gordon 1-7; D. Earnhardt Jr. 8-10; D. Hamlin 11-14; D. Earnhardt Jr. 15; D. Hamlin 16; D. Earnhardt Jr. 17; J. Gordon 18; D. Earnhardt Jr. 19-39; M. Waltrip 40-41; J. Johnson 42-63; D. Earnhardt Jr. 64-79; M. Waltrip 80; D. Ragan 81; P. Menard 82; J. Logano 83-94; C. Bowyer 95-96; K. Harvick 97-100; K. Kahne 101-118; R. Stenhouse Jr. 119-120; G. Biffle 121; J. Johnson 122-133; R. Newman 134; Kurt Busch 135; D. Gilliland 136; M. Kenseth 137-139; Kyle Busch 140-150; D. Earnhardt Jr. 151-169; P. Menard 170; D. Gilliland 171; G. Biffle 172-188; J. Logano 189-196.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): D. Earnhardt Jr. 6 times for 61 laps; J. Johnson 2 times for 34 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 20 laps; G. Biffle 2 times for 18 laps; K. Kahne 1 time for 18 laps; Kyle Busch 1 time for 11 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 8 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 5 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 4 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 3 laps; M. Waltrip 2 times for 3 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 2 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 2 laps; P. Menard 2 times for 2 laps; D. Gilliland 2 times for 2 laps; R. Newman 1 time for 1 lap; D. Ragan 1 time for 1 lap; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: J. Logano – 3,142; C. Edwards – 3,115; J. Gordon – 3,113; Kurt Busch – 3,112; B. Keselowski – 3,111; M. Truex Jr. – 3,107; K. Harvick – 3,101; Kyle Busch – 3,098; R. Newman – 3,095; D. Hamlin – 3,090; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 3,083; M. Kenseth – 3,054; J. Johnson – 2,161; J. Mcmurray – 2,159; P. Menard – 2,148; C. Bowyer – 2,123.
